DIY Toadstool Cake Topper

When autumn comes, the cool weather mixed with rain cre­ates a damp environment—perfect for our mush­room pals to sprout like crazy in the forests and woods. I thought this toad­stool mush­room cake top­per would brighten up your rainy fall days—and they make a great addi­tion to a wood­land themed kid’s party.

Plunk them into cup­cakes, cakes, cook­ies, even a big old plate of fried mush­rooms. You can draw a lit­tle face on them or leave them as just pure unadul­ter­ated toadstools—it’s totally up to you!

What You Need

• One piece of red craft paper
• One smaller piece of white craft paper
• Scis­sors
• A cir­cle craft punch—I used a 3-inch wide one
• Mini hole punch
• Glue stick
• Black fine-tip marker
• Wooden BBQ sticks
• Scotch tape or washi tape

Step 1Punch out your red cir­cles using your cir­cle craft punch. Cut your cir­cles in two to form two mush­room domes. Or, use scis­sors to cut out some half-circle mush­room tops.

Step 2Cut out some thick rec­tan­gle mush­room stems from your white craft paper. Adhere to the red caps using your glue stick.

Step 3Punch out a bunch of tiny white paper cir­cles using your mini hole punch. Using a glue stick, adhere the white dots to your mush­room cap.

Step 4Get your fine-tip black marker out! Make your own friends by draw­ing some smi­ley faces on your mush­rooms. Instant pals. See how happy he is to be a mushroom?

Step 5Using scis­sors, cut your wooden BBQ skew­ers into whichever length you like. Tape your mush­rooms on with Scotch tape or washi tape.

Step 6Plunk those adorable toad­stool mush­room cake top­pers into your cup­cakes and you are all set for your woodland-themed party!

Yeah, bud­dies! Smile away like the cute lit­tle mush­rooms that you are. Hope you enjoyed this tuto­r­ial. I’ll see ya real soon!

Cookie Problems: Coconut Macaroon Recipe

Coconut macaroons - simple, sweet, chewy, crunchy with a touch of pure almond extract and plenty of coconut, of course. This recipe uses Smitten Kitchen's "throw 'em in a food processor" method for easy mixing. Blammo - you're done!

EASY COCONUT MACAROONS (Yield: 1 dozen)

You will need:

3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
4 egg whites
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
teensy pinch of sea salt

Make it!

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

1. Blend all of your ingredients in a blender or food processor for 1 minute.
2. Scoop out using an ice cream scoop onto your baking sheet.
3. Bake for 25-30 minutes until coconut looks cutely browned on top, turning pans halfway to ensure even baking.
4. Let cool on baking sheet.
5. Pile them up on a plate and lie in bed with a beautifying face mask on, snacking on the macaroons like bonbons.

Styling tip: I wanted to add some colour to my plate of macaroons so I added fresh berries and some pretty petals and flower buds from my own garden. What are your favourite ways to jazz up a food photo?

Fluff + Puff: Coconut Raspberry Snowball Cake

A pretty little beauty of a cake. I love the look of the snowball cake - mine has coconut cake layers with a hint of pure almond extract and it is filled with raspberry jam, iced in vanilla creamcheese frosting and covered in white shredded coconut. Topped with a fresh raspberry, I think it's quite an adorable vintage-looking cake, don't you? 

COCONUT RASPBERRY SNOWBALL CAKE

You will need: 

For the cake: 

1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature

11/2 cups of granulated sugar

4 eggs, room temperature

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon pure almond extract

3 cups of all purpose flour

2 cups of packed shredded unsweetened coconut 

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

2 cups of high quality coconut milk

For the frosting: 

1 cup (2 sticks) of unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup (2 sticks) of plain cream cheese, room temperature 

4 cups of confectioner's sugar, sifted

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups of sweetened or unsweetened shredded coconut

Make the cake: 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour (or spray with cooking oil) two 9 inch round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper. Set aside. 

1. Using a stand mixer in a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar on high speed until light and fluffy. 

2. On low speed, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs, vanilla and almond extracts until incorporated. 

3. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, shredded coconut, baking powder and sea salt. 

4. With the mixer on low, working in thirds, alternate the coconut milk with the dry mixture, mixing until combined. Do not overmix. 

5. Pour the batter equally into your round cake pans. Using an offset spatula or butter knife, spread the batter around the pan so it is distributed evenly.

6. Bake in the middle rack of your oven for 26-28 minutes, rotating cake pans halfway through. Check to see if the cake is finished by inserting a clean toothpick in to the center of each cake pan.

7. Set cakes to cool in their pans on wire racks.

Make the frosting:  

1. Using a stand mixer, beat the butter and cream cheese together on high speed to combine.

2. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the confectioner's sugar one cup at a time.

3. Add the pure vanilla extract. Beat the frosting on high until light and fluffy.

To assemble the cake: 

1. Once cooled, remove your cakes from the cake pans. Using a serrated knife level your cakes to create a flat cake surface. 

2. Place one layer of cake on a cake board or cake stand. Using a piping bag fitted with an open circle tip filled with vanilla creamcheese frosting, pipe a dam of frosting starting from the outside of the cake layer working your way in. Pipe three rotations of frosting, leaving an empty space for the jam.

3. Using a spoon, fill the empty space with jam to create a filling. 

4. Place second layer on top of cake. Press down lightly to adhere. 

5. Using an offset spatula, frost the entire exterior of the cake. 

6. Place cake in the freezer for ten minutes for frosting to set. 

7. Remove cake from the freezer and add another layer of frosting. 

8. Using clean hands, cover the entire cake with shredded coconut. I just grab coconut by the handfuls and pat it into the frosting until covered. 

9. Top with a fresh raspberry!

DIY Paper Plate Animal Mask Party

I created this super cute and easy to make animal mask out. No need for paint and markers when you have a pattern like this! This would be such a fun and easy craft for a youngster's animal themed birthday party, or a last minute mask for Halloween!

Cute, right?Now that your masks are made, why not throw a party? All you is a pretty and simple cake. Let your party decor do the rest!

I also made a simple and cute cat cake topper using some leftover paper plate - punch out a circle using your craft circle punch, draw on a face and adhere some triangles for ears. Attach it to a straw with tape and plunk it straight into your cake. Matching cuteness.

I tried to get Teddy to hold on to the bear mask for a quick picture!

CUTE DRACULA CAKE

You will need: 

A two layer cake of your choice, baked and cooled

4 cups of vanilla buttercream for icing the entire cake

An offset spatula to ice the cake with

2 cups of dark chocolate buttercream for the widow's peak hair

1 piping bag fitted with a multi-opening tip (also known as the grass or hair tip)

Fondant to make the ears, teeth, eyes and mouth

Red gel food colouring for a little bit of fake blood

Make it!

You did it! Now that you've made your Cute Dracula cake, it's time to throw a party!

RECIPE!!! TRY IT~

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Carrot Cupcakes

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 18 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Yield: 18 cupcakes

Ingredients

Carrot Cupcakes
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup crushed pineapple, strained (I also wrang it out in a paper towel to get as much juice out as I could)
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 cups grated carrots (2-3 large carrots)
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
• 6oz cream cheese, room temperature
• 6 Tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• the seeds from 1 vanilla bean
• pinch of salt
• 3 cups powered sugar
Decorating Supplies
• Disposable piping bag
• large round piping tip
• orange, green and yellow sprinkles
• PEEPS bunnies
• DIY Carrot Toppers
• Sugar flowers

Instructions

Carrot Cupcakes
1. Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Line cupcake pan with liners.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger.
3. In another large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the oil and mix together.
4. Add the sugars and whisk until smooth and there are no more sugar clumps.
5. Add the vanilla, pineapple, carrots and milk and whisk until combined.
6. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Fold until completely combined. Do not overmix.
7. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full and bake 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
9. In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and cream cheese.
10. Add the vanilla bean seeds, vanilla extract, salt and heavy cream and beat until incorporated - about 2 minutes.
11. Mix in the powdered sugar, one cup at a time, until smooth. Beat on high for 2 minutes.
12. Using a large round tip fitted on a disposable piping bag, squeeze a large round dollop of frosting on to the top of each cupcake.
13. Top cupcakes with sugar flowers, PEEPS bunnies and DIY carrots.

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For all the ins and outs to make these carrot cupcake toppers, visit No Biggie’s blog for the full tutorial!  I didn’t have all the supplies and tools she had to make them exactly the same, so I used what was in my house and I still think they turned out great!

Supplies

• Orange & green card stock
• Lollipop sticks
• Glue stick
• Scissors

Instructions

• Cut strips of orange card stock the long length of your paper. I cut mine about 1/3″, but you can cut whatever size works best for you. If you use a paper that isn’t color on both sides, make sure that any lines you draw to help you cut your paper are not visible on the white side. (I learned this the hard way once I started assembling them and had to trim the edges so you couldn’t see my lines.)
• Cut 3×2″ rectangles of green card stock.  Cut fringe up one side of the paper, making sure to leave about 1/4″ uncut.  (See pictures in the No Biggie tutorial for a better description.)
• Spread the glue stick on the uncut length of the green card stock.  Wrap that tightly around the end of the lollipop stick and hold for 30 seconds for the glue to adhere.  Fray out the fringe.
• Wrap the orange paper around the center of the lollipop stick and hold for 30 seconds.  Let go of the paper, it will be curled up like ribbon.  Glue the outer edge of the curled paper to the top of the stick at the base of the wrapped green fringe.   Glue the bottom inner edge about half way down the stick.  You may want to move the paper up/down or adjust it to how it looks best before gluing the bottom to the stick.  Hold the paper in place to let the glue adhere.

DIY carrot cake toppers

Do you love carrot cake? With cream cheese frosting? Mmm… although hold the raisins and the pineapple please.

Well, today I’m here to share an adorable way to decorate your favorite carrot cake, whether it be cupcakes or a big cake, this simple topper will be a hit at your Easter party.

Here’s what you’ll need, and what I used to make these. You could easily get by without some of these tools, but they make it go quick.

You will need: a paper crimper by Fiskars, Martha Stewart fringe scissors, white paper lollipop sticks by wilton, strong hold glue dots, and green and orange cardstock. If you can find orange cardstock with polkadots, even better! 

Start with one long 12 x 1/2 inch strip of orange paper and one 3in x 2 inch strip of green paper.

Start with the green paper and cut little fringes up one side, making sure not to cut all the way through.

Next move onto the orange strip of paper and run it through the paper crimper.

Now that both pieces are ready, you can adhere them with the glue dots to the lollipop stick. Place a glue dot at one end, and wrap the orange paper tightly around the lollipop stick.

Do the same thing at the other end of the stick with the green cardstock. Fray out the little green fringes to give it a more crazy look.

Release the orange paper and pull it out from the stick, it will want to curl back in, but it will won’t be as tight. Once you have it pulled out, adhere it to the base of the green paper with a small glue dot.

That’s it! They make for fun “bunny bait” too. 

Now…go make some paper carrots! This would be a great kid craft too!